Odessa-Montour's Zach Elliott a dazzling thrower who goes extra mile to help competition

O-M's Zach Elliott breaks own school record in the shot put with throw of 54 feet, 8 inches at Waite-Molnar Invitational on April 27, 2019 in Elmira.
Andrew Legare, alegare@stargazette.com | @SGAndrewLegare

Odessa-Montour senior Zach Elliott is focused on beating everyone he competes against, shattering school records and dominating at this year's state championship meet.

He's also about as helpful as can be to those trying to deny him wins and titles.

At the Waite-Molnar Invitational at Ernie Davis Academy on April 27, Elliott continued to provide suggestions even after he was in danger of faulting out early from the discus competition on a sloppy wet, cold day. He went on to win the event going away after muscling in a qualifying throw. A bit later, he crushed his own school record in the shot put. Multiple times.

Elliott, 18, has exhibited the best track and field has to offer in multiple ways. He has dazzled at times with behemoth throws in the shot put and discus while also displaying the type of sportsmanship that separates the sport from many others.

Zach Elliott of Odessa-Montour competes in the discus at the Waite-Molnar Invitational on April 27, 2019 at Elmira's Ernie Davis Academy.(Photo: Andrew Legare/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Among those throwing against Elliott this day was Horseheads High School's Holton Ike, who turned to Elliott for pointers at the Molly Dry Invitational at Mansfield University two weeks earlier. That request not only led to help from Elliott, it ended up turning into an accepted invitation to take advantage of Elliott's home-made throwing pit in Alpine.

Zach has represented his school, his sport and his family well.

"The thing that drives me to love what he does is the fact that he’s doing all this and in a lot of competitions he doesn’t have any competition," said his dad, Dave Elliott. "But he’s on the sideline helping every other kid out there try to throw better. For a dad, that’s impressive.

"Over here at discus today, Holton's throwing close to what (Zach) was throwing today at least. Holton was at our house last week getting lessons from Zach. He’s always striving to make other kids better. He’s always trying to help. I love it. That’s part of track. That’s what makes track great."

Greatness has been exhibited in performance as well for the son of Dave and Kelly Elliott. Zach became the first O-M boys track and field athlete to place at states when he finished fifth in Division II in the discus last year. This year Elliott has already qualified for states in the discus and shot put, smashing his own school mark in the latter, where he ranks among the best in New York state. He also helped the O-M boys to the Interscholastic Athletic Conference South Small School title.

But, again, not all achievements can be measured with a measuring stick. At least not the ones that truly matter.

"It has nothing to do with necessarily how far he throws, has nothing to do with necessarily practice and all that kind of stuff," O-M track coach Skip Strobel said. "Just how many people would do that for somebody else they’re competing against. That’s the thing that impresses me the most is that he’s willing to share that knowledge he has with other people.

"I'm just proud of him. How can you not be? I take absolutely zero credit for it because he's put in the work on his own, his parents spend the time and money to get him the pit in his back yard and the coaching. I'm just proud that he's been this committed and I'm super excited for him."

Zach Elliott of Odessa-Montour competes in the shot put at the Waite-Molnar Invitational on April 27, 2019 at Elmira's Ernie Davis Academy.(Photo: Andrew Legare/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Co-existing with that attitude is a competitive fire that has pushed Elliott to work daily on his craft. Elliott said he doesn't want to just hold O-M throwing records, he wants to push them so far nobody breaks them. He doesn't want to just win a state title, he wants to do so in dominant fashion.

Finishing fifth last year in Division II at the state meet wasn't good enough, with three fouls in six tries part of the reason for the sting even with a top throw of 140 feet, 7 inches. Beyond that, Elliott thought he was good enough to have been competing in the shot put as well at Cicero-North Syracuse that weekend.

"I wasn't nervous about the big stage or anything," Elliott said. "It was my first meet with competition really, so it was nerve-wracking in that kind of way. It got to me a little bit and I choked, only threw 140, got fifth. So I'm hoping that doesn't happen this year.

"I was focused on states the day after states ended last year. That’s my focus for everything. States and then Feds right after states."

He's proving a point this spring. Throw after throw.

"From last year going and not throwing my best and getting fifth when I should have won, it’s redemption for me," Elliott said. "And not being able to go for shot when there were other juniors who were there in the 40s, it’s just redemption totally."

For sure, though fifth place in your class at a state championship meet is an accomplishment Elliott is likely to appreciate more down the road.

"At the end of states last year he was disappointed, but he took fifth place," Strobel said. "First Odessa boy to ever place at states in track. You take a look and the first four guys graduated and the other four guys behind him graduated. But there’s always going to be somebody. Each year he’s made progress and hopefully that will result in success at the state meet again this year."

Zach Elliott of Odessa-Montour competes in the discus at the Waite-Molnar Invitational on April 27, 2019 at Elmira's Ernie Davis Academy.(Photo: Andrew Legare/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Throws of victory

The state meet is scheduled for June 7 and 8 at Middletown High School. Barring injury, Elliott has already secured his spot there in the shot put and discus by meeting the state super-standard, a qualifying opportunity that came into effect this season.

His goals for that weekend in Middletown? "It’s to go and dominate," Elliott said. "Definitely win. I want to win by more than a few inches. I want to win by feet."

Said Strobel of Elliott qualifying already: "We made some reservations a while ago for hotels hoping that would be the case. Now we don’t have to cancel them, which is fantastic."

Strobel said he takes zero credit for Elliott's success, with most of the coaching instead coming from private coach Jake Edelman, who has coached throwers at the likes of SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College. Gary Hunter, formerly head coach at Ithaca College, coached Elliott before Edelman.

"Ever since he's been with Jake Edelman, it's been beating his mark one time after another," Dave Elliott said. "That motivates him and keeps driving him to get better and better. It's non-stop. It's practice every day."

Family is a big part of Zach discovering and excelling as a thrower, with older brother Bryce initially finding success at Odessa-Montour. Zach started as a seventh-grader with the modified team, then competed on the varsity as an eighth-grader. He continued to improve year by year, mixing in some running and jumping before focusing just on throwing this season.

Zach Elliott of Odessa-Montour competes in the shot put at the Waite-Molnar Invitational on April 27, 2019 at Elmira's Ernie Davis Academy.(Photo: Andrew Legare/Elmira Star-Gazette)

"My brother started it off for me, pushing me," Zach said. "The enjoyment level is to keep crushing his records and messing with him about that personally.

"In 1964 was when the school record was set in the shot put at 50 (feet) and then I’ve been the only one close to that for a long time. By demolishing it, I want nobody to ever get the shot record unless it’s my family."

He broke the school mark in the shot put last year against Tioga. One school record still out there is the discus. Dakota Simpson holds the O-M standard with a top throw of 155 feet, 8 inches in 2013.

Elliott, who stands 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, said he's still waiting for the perfect throw, pointing out this is more a sport about technique than power. He does lift weights to help train, though he said he doesn't lift as often as he should.

"In discus I’ve never had everything perfect," he said. "I’ve had either my strike is perfect or my footwork is perfect, but I’ve never had everything combined in disc. Because if I do, I’m going to bomb it.

"When I know I have a good throw, it’s a good feeling, but I know I can do better. Even if I have an amazing throw, it’s not good enough to me. I’ve got to keep going."

Zach Elliott of Odessa-Montour competes in the shot put at the Waite-Molnar Invitational at Ernie Davis Academy on April 27, 2019.(Photo: Andrew Legare/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Elliott was able to make a ceremonial return for Senior Night, scoring a courtesy bucket, but otherwise didn't play again. He has excelled this spring with both ankles hurting.

"Hurt my right one during track throwing," he said. "Both of my ankles are injured, but I’m toughening it out. I have ankle braces on them and I tighten those up pretty good. It hurts, but you go through it."

The sport has had its ups and downs. As a sophomore, Elliott faulted during all three tries in the shot put at the state qualifier and didn't give himself a chance to go to states.

"It’s a process," Strobel said. "As a freshman, he faulted three times at the Moravia Relays. Wouldn’t listen to anybody and ended up costing his brother first place in the Moravia Relays. That’s as a freshman.

"Then as a sophomore he faults three times and I just remember sitting up on a hill with him and just talking to him about the process and how you practice is how you compete. Sometimes in practice he would say, ‘Hey, I step out all the time, it doesn’t matter.’ Then when you fault three times it does matter. It's those little things, those little baby steps."

Cole Marks of Elmira runs to a win in the 110-meter hurdles at the Waite-Molnar Invitational on April 27, 2019 at Elmira's Ernie Davis Academy. At left is Odessa-Montour second-place finisher Preston Harris and at right is O-M's Paden Grover, who finished fourth. Andrew Legare / Staff photo

Now it's Zach, whose vibrant personality is evident simply by watching him around the throwing pits, who has become a team leader. Strobel said that continues a chain started by Simpson, a two-time state qualifier.

"When (Simpson) went to states, he took a kid named Bryce Elliott, Zach's older brother, to states with him," Strobel said. "It really helped Bryce. Bryce then took that role when Dakota graduated and took on that kind of father figure, big brother role to the rest of the team, figuratively and literally, because we had Zach.

"Now I see Zach, even though sometimes he drives us crazy at practice and does some knuckle-headed things, he really takes the time to help his teammates and also his competitors. Since I’ve been here, he’s adding to that long line of successful throwers and I’m hoping some of the younger guys – Eric Rumsey right behind him in the discus – and then some of these younger guys coming through after him, will continue on the tradition."

Zach Elliott of Odessa-Montour watches his throw in the shot put at the Waite-Molnar Invitational on April 27, 2019 at Elmira's Ernie Davis Academy.(Photo: Andrew Legare/Elmira Star-Gazette)

Beef jerky and big throws

Elliott's goal is to turn winning state championships at Odessa-Montour into a tradition after fellow all-state football pick Dylan Houseknecht won a state title in wrestling this winter. It was the school's second state champion, with the 2001 girls basketball team the first.

"I have the school record in the shot. It’s not good enough. It has to be better," Elliott said. "My coach, I beat his shot record. I’m still not at his disc record. Motivation is to beat those, be the No. 1 thrower in the state, not lose at states. Just keep pushing myself until I get better and better."

In the meantime, though, he said he's having an awful lot of fun while drawing "oohs" and "aahs" from competitors and fans alike.

"You don’t have to run up there and sweat like crazy and (be) out of breath," he said, referencing the runners competing nearby on the track. "You can sit down here, eat beef jerky and throw far."